So this is it. The Fantasy Football Bowl has arrived along with all of the power, money, and prestige that awaits the winner.
Um...right.
I really do want to win, though, so I'm checking the roster and the free agent wire twice, looking at who has been naughty and who has been nice. I don't want to overthink things, but I do have some potential weak spots to review.
QB. Overall Andy Dalton has done a good job this year, but his production has been down the last few weeks. He's managed only 1 passing TD in each of the last 3 weeks and if he hadn't run for a couple of TDs in that period I probably would have dumped him by now. On the one hand, he faces a dinged up Steelers secondary that gave up 328 yards and 2 TDs to Tony Romo on Sunday. On the other hand, Sam Bradford of the Rams, fresh off from hitting the Vikes for 377 yards and 3 TDs, is available and faces the worst passing defense in the NFL with the Buccaneers. I'm tempted. I'm very tempted.
RB. Nothing to change here. Both Alfred Morris and Knowshon Moreno have played very well the last few weeks, are healthy, and appear to have good matchups this week.
WR/TE. While A.J. Green is a must-play, both Hakeem Nicks and Roddy White came up with a whole lot of nothing last week. In fact, both have only one good game in the last three. Backup Donnie Avery has done nothing since scoring two TDs three weeks ago. While White has a better matchup than Nicks this week, my real concern is Nicks' QB, Eli Manning. He's fresh off a brutal performance against Atlanta and now he faces a Ravens passing defense that has given up an average of only one TD to opposing QBs the last five games.
On the one hand, Nicks has breakout potential every week. On the other hand, two hot TEs are available: Aaron Hernandez of the Patriots and Dennis Pitta of the Ravens. Both have scored three TDs in the last two weeks. I'm tempted to pick up Hernandez because Rob Gronkowski could probably use one more week of none or light duty to recover from his broken arm, but Bill Belichick's talent for screwing me over should not be underestimated. Hmmm.
K. Placekicker Lawrence Tynes of the Giants missed his only shot at a field goal last week. I don't know how many years it has been since my kicker has been totally shut down in a game. Even if Eli Manning has a rough outing again, Tynes should get some points. The odds of him and the Giants both getting skunked twice in a row are pretty long. No change here.
D/ST. The Steelers Defense/Special Teams haven't done much for me this year. They've scored only one TD and have recorded zero shutouts. On the other hand, the Falcons, Redskins, and Saints have all scored more points this year, are available, and have statistically favorable matchups this coming week. If I wasn't in the Fantasy Bowl I wouldn't bother, but I think I might make a switch here.
The D/ST move can wait. Since this is the last week, I can feel comfortable clearing my bench a bit and making the other moves now, with final decisions about the lineup waiting for game times on Saturday/Sunday. I'm pretty sure my opponent will not pick up Avery or Reggie Bush if I dump them. He's got plenty of other talent in those areas.
And by the way, I realize posts like this probably bore the heck out of everybody except Rob, but like a lot of subjects, just working through the issues here helps me a great deal.
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